Crashhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/crash
en-usTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:13:33 -0500Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:13:33 -0500The latest news on Crash from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-risk-to-equity-investors-2014-10Investors should always remember that the stock market can wipe you outhttp://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-risk-to-equity-investors-2014-10
Sun, 01 Mar 2015 15:20:06 -0500Sam Ro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/544addc769beddd06a46b144-800-619/cd-13.jpg" alt="max drawdown" border="0"></p><p>It may sound obvious. But when you invest in stocks, you're at risk of getting wiped out.</p>
<p>That really is the single most important risk to investors.</p>
<p>Even when you think you're well-diversified, you could see the value of your investments quickly plunge or perhaps slowly bleed 90% of its value over years as the Greek stock market did during the eurozone crisis.</p>
<p>Citi's Jonathan Stubbs addresses this in a recent research note about asset allocation. He included a chart highlighting some of the ugliest maximum drawdowns of in the global stock market.</p>
<p>"Figure 45 shows various markets and industries which have suffered severe losses in relatively short order in recent decades, e.g., the UK (1972-74), the Nasdaq (2000-03), Greece (2008-12) and Mining (2008-09)," he writes.</p>
<p>"Hence, buyer beware."</p>
<p>Because many of these stocks are of companies that don't go bankrupt, the losses are just paper losses that you don't realize until you sell. If you have a long investment time horizon, you might think it wise to wait for the value to come back.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/544addc769bedd826b46b145-800-647/c-160.jpg" alt="topix" border="0">However, an investor must be willing to be extraordinarily patient if he hopes to recoup his losses.</p>
<p>"It can sometimes take many years for investors to make their money back after suffering big losses," Stubbs writes. "For example, US equities only made it back to the peak 1929 total return levels in 1945, more than 15 years after the Great Crash. Kenji Abe, Citi’s Japanese strategist, highlights that Japanese equities are still a long way short of end-1989 peak levels."</p>
<p>These are all things investors need to consider very carefully before they commit their life savings to the stock market.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-real-returns-by-decade-2014-10" >This Crazy Chart Perfectly Illustrates Why You Should Never Expect 'Average' Returns</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-important-risk-to-equity-investors-2014-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nationwide-insurance-industry-loss-ratio-2015-2">Nationwide's Super Bowl commercial about dead children is about corporate profits ... in a way that we can all appreciate</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-crossing-at-scene-of-california-rail-crash-was-known-rail-hazard-2015-2Crossing at scene of California rail crash was a big problem before accidenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-crossing-at-scene-of-california-rail-crash-was-known-rail-hazard-2015-2
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 13:40:00 -0500Michael Fleeman
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54edcfe45afbd3e5468b456e-450-300/crossing-at-scene-of-california-rail-crash-was-known-rail-hazard.jpg" border="0" alt="An aerial view shows the scene of a double-decker Metrolink train derailment in Oxnard, California February 24, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson"></p><p></p>
<p>OXNARD, Calif. (Reuters) - The rail crossing where a California commuter train plowed into a truck was a known transportation hazard and the scene of a fatal accident as recently as last year, raising questions about why a highway overpass has not been built there.</p>
<p>Fifty people were injured in Tuesday's fiery pre-dawn wreck in Oxnard, which flipped over three double-decker Metrolink rail cars and derailed two others. The Ford F450 pickup truck, which was hauling a trailer loaded with welding equipment, was destroyed and parts were left smoldering hours later.</p>
<p>The crossing where the crash took place, at an intersection set between warehouses and farm fields about 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles, has been a railway trouble spot for some time, according to officials and media reports.</p>
<p>"The last incident I know of was in June of 2014," Oxnard Mayor Tim Flynn told reporters on Tuesday. "I think there were two deaths at this intersection. A car traveling southbound hit a train and there were also fatalities."</p>
<p>The crash came just three weeks after a Metro-North commuter train struck a car at a crossing outside New York City and derailed in an accident that killed six people.</p>
<p>Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said over 2,000 grade crossing accidents occur every year nationally, killing about 250 people.</p>
<p>"We are very concerned about grade crossings, and we intend to use this accident and others to learn from it so that we can keep it from happening again," he told reporters.</p>
<p>The unusual junction at Oxnard, which combines a rail crossing and a road intersection, has been the site of at least five other accidents involving trains since 2008, according to media reports.</p>
<p>Two young men died in the 2014 crash when police say they failed to stop for a lowered crossing arm, the reports said, and an apparently confused female motorist suffered non-life-threatening injuries in 2010 when she was hit by a commuter train while driving on the tracks.</p>
<p>That same year a car was rear-ended onto the tracks as a freight train approached, though the driver escaped with minor injuries before the train pushed the car 400 feet, media said.</p>
<p>FREIGHT CORRIDOR CONCERNS</p>
<p>In 2009, firefighters rescued an injured man from a pickup truck that became stuck on the tracks after a collision just seconds before a Metrolink train hit it.</p>
<p>No train passengers were hurt in those incidents, the reports said, but one woman did suffer minor injuries in 2008 when she was among 55 passengers on a Metrolink train which struck a semi-trailer that had stopped on the tracks.</p>
<p>Local lawmakers say federal funds are needed to construct an overpass for the crossing that was first proposed more than a decade ago but is estimated would cost more than $30 million.</p>
<p>Darren Kettle, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said the area is one of the county's most important freight corridors, and it has "significant" safety concerns.</p>
<p>"The location ... has really become the place where it is notorious for having an incident," Kettle told the Ventura County Star newspaper.</p>
<p>He said he urged visiting members of Congress about the importance of the project as recently as Monday.</p>
<p>Assistant Police Chief Jason Benites said the 54-year-old driver in Tuesday's crash apparently took a wrong turn in the dark and became stuck on the tracks. "The vehicle was actually straddling the railroad tracks," Benites said.</p>
<p>The driver was later arrested on hit-and-run charges after being found walking and disorientated more than a mile from the accident, police said.</p>
<p>Mayor Flynn said it is hoped federal funds for a bridge will be forthcoming, to combine with state and local financing.</p>
<p>"It's ongoing. It's a proposal," Flynn told reporters. "It's been in the works for the last couple of years."</p>
<p>(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Rory Carroll, Eric Johnson, and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Robert Birsel)</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rolls-royce-makes-its-hood-ornament-2015-2?op=1" >This is how Rolls-Royce makes the world's most famous hood ornament</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-crossing-at-scene-of-california-rail-crash-was-known-rail-hazard-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/helicopter-hudson-river-cold-winter-new-york-2015-2">Video shot from a helicopter perfectly captures how cold it is in New York right now</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/massive-car-pile-up-in-maine-described-by-state-police-as-a-pile-of-metal-2015-2Massive car accident in Maine described by state police as a 'pile of metal'http://www.businessinsider.com/massive-car-pile-up-in-maine-described-by-state-police-as-a-pile-of-metal-2015-2
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:45:00 -0500Matthew DeBord
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54eddeffeab8eac604b428ac-886-664/screen shot 2015-02-25 at 9.35.31 am.png" border="0" alt="Maine pileup snow crash"></p><p>Various news outlets are reporting a massive pile-up of cars in Maine on Interstate 95 in a snowstorm.</p>
<p>According to WMUR, "<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Ted Talbot said the highway was closed northbound between the towns of Newport and Etna."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">WMUR reported that "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">at least 40 vehicles were involved in the crashes." </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The giant accident took place at 7:30 a.m.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">There have been injuries, but no reported fatalities so far.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A spokesperson for the Maine State Police said that a trooper called the crash&nbsp;<span>"a giant pile of metal," according to WMUR.</span></span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>RT <a href="https://twitter.com/jackie_ward">@jackie_ward</a>: Here are images we're receiving from <a href="https://twitter.com/MEStatePolice">@MEStatePolice</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/KaitlynChana">@KaitlynChana</a> is also on scene. <a href="https://twitter.com/WCSH6">@WCSH6</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/WLBZ2">@WLBZ2</a> <a href="http://t.co/OpU0uynS1V">pic.twitter.com/OpU0uynS1V</a></p>
— WCSH 6 (@WCSH6) <a href="https://twitter.com/WCSH6/status/570588515567861760">February 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
<p>Here's video of the accident:</p>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p><iframe width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vcsJZKYrr-A"></iframe></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/analyst-the-bullish-case-for-tesla-has-been-debunked-2015-2" >Analyst: The bullish case for Tesla has been debunked</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/massive-car-pile-up-in-maine-described-by-state-police-as-a-pile-of-metal-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/helicopter-hudson-river-cold-winter-new-york-2015-2">Video shot from a helicopter perfectly captures how cold it is in New York right now</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/lance-armstrong-allegedly-hit-two-parked-vehicles-2015-2Lance Armstrong allegedly crashed into 2 vehicles and left the scene, and his girlfriend tried to take the blamehttp://www.businessinsider.com/lance-armstrong-allegedly-hit-two-parked-vehicles-2015-2
Tue, 03 Feb 2015 13:57:00 -0500Daniel McMahon
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54d104336da811897262ab10-1200-924/lance%20armstrong%20anna%20hansen%20aspen%20museum%20accident.jpg" border="0" alt="Lance Armstrong Anna Hansen Aspen Museum accident"></p><p>Disgraced American sports icon <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/lance-armstrong">Lance Armstrong</a> allegedly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-lance-armstrong-crashed-suv-car-accident-2015-2">crashed</a> into two parked vehicles in Colorado on Dec. 29 and left the scene, with his girlfriend initially telling police that she had been behind the wheel, according to an Aspen police report obtained by Business Insider.</p>
<p>The Aspen Daily News first <a href="http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/165537">reported</a> the story, saying that Armstrong's girlfriend, Anna Hansen, also allegedly lied about whether Armstrong had been drinking.</p>
<p>She was cited by Aspen police for failing to report the accident and exceeding safe speed for conditions before those tickets were transferred to Armstrong on Jan. 12.</p>
<p>The couple had attended a party at the St. Regis Aspen Resort on the evening of Dec. 29, the police report showed. Hansen initially told police that she had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-lance-armstrong-crashed-suv-car-accident-2015-2">lost control of the GMC Yukon that she and Armstrong</a> were driving home in and struck two parked cars in the West End neighborhood.</p>
<p>Hansen at first said Armstrong had had "a little bit to drink," which is why she was driving.</p>
<p>The homeowner whose house Hansen went to shortly after the incident told police:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"A woman, well-dressed, 30ish, blond woman came running around the corner in her high heels in six inches of packed snow which was pretty impressive; she ran directly to us and said 'We're so sorry, we came around the corner and slipped on the ice and we hit your cars, we're so sorry, we'll pay for everything.'"</p>
<p>Hansen and Armstrong had taken what appeared to be the long way home, as Aspen police detective Rick Magnuson wrote in his report:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I asked Hansen why she was driving back to her house on the 100 block of West Francis when she lives in the 900 block west. I explained it would be more efficient and quicker to drive down Main Street to the 'S' curves then to her house. Hansen said she always goes through the west end to their home. I also asked her why she didn't wait until the police arrived on scene to make a report. Hansen said it didn't occur to her as she didn't think she needed to wait for the police. I explained to her that anytime you get into an accident you need to have the police involved. She said she didn't know that. I told Hansen that it's my experience that when people cut through the west end of town and don't wait around for police they're typically intoxicated. She said she didn't have anything to drink, that's why she was driving.</p>
<p>Magnuson reported that he "was suspicious of Hansen's story" and decided to investigate the matter further, eventually learning that a valet at the St. Regis said he had seen Armstrong getting into the driver's seat and Hansen getting into the passenger seat. Magnuson wrote:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I asked Hansen if Armstrong asked her to take the blame for the accident once they got home. She replied, "No, that was a joint decision and um, you know we've had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I've got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family because I thought, 'Gosh, Anna Hansen hit some cars, it's not going to show up in the papers, but Lance Armstrong hit some cars, it's going to be a national story.'"</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">...</p>
<div class="page" title="Page 6">
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<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I asked Hansen if Armstrong was intoxicated when he drove home from the St. Regis as she originally told me. Hansen replied, "He was not intoxicated, and that was um, you know, I'm sorry I lied to you that morning but I was trying to make it sound like well I was driving because that was just, I don't know, I'm not in the habit of lying in general and especially not to police officers so, I don't know I was just trying to make something up at that time."</p>
<p>Below are the two vehicles Armstrong allegedly hit, according to Aspen police photos provided to Business Insider:</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54d10defeab8ea0f1d7f56e9-1936-2592/3%20armstrong%20hit%20and%20run.jpg" border="0" alt="3 Armstrong Hit and Run"></p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54d10defeab8ea4a157f56ec-2592-1936/2%20armstrong%20hit%20and%20run.jpg" border="0" alt="2 Armstrong Hit and Run"></p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54d11902ecad040e758f9524-1200-1715/blur%20armstrong_hit_and_run.jpg" border="0" alt="blur Armstrong_Hit_and_Run"></p>
<p>Hansen later said that Armstrong "was aware" that she had gone "to the courthouse to tell the truth and that he was prepared to admit driving the car and accept responsibility for the crash," the police report showed.</p>
<p>Earlier on the day of the incident, Armstrong tweeted that it was snowing in Aspen and that he was working out next to former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright:</p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Snowy/cold here in Aspen. Was running on treadmill hating it then 77 yr old <a href="https://twitter.com/madeleine">@madeleine</a> starts crushing the elliptical next to me. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Inspiring?src=hash">#Inspiring</a></p>— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/status/549648232263860226">December 29, 2014</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p><br>Armstrong has hired Pamela Mackey as his attorney. She also represented Kobe Bryant.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.usada.org/">US Anti-Doping Agency</a>, or USADA, stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles in October 2012, and he confessed to Oprah Winfrey to having used banned substances in January 2013.</p>
<p>In its "<a href="http://cyclinginvestigation.usada.org/">Reasoned Decision</a>," USADA said that evidence against Armstrong showed beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, with Armstrong as its leader, "ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."</p>
<p>In a BBC interview that aired last week, Armstrong was asked, "When it comes to the doping, would you do it again?"</p>
<p>"If you take me back to 1995, when it was completely and totally pervasive, I'd probably do it again," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/armstrong-i-would-cheat-again-2015-1">Armstrong said</a>.</p>
<p>Armstrong is due in court March 17.</p>
<p>Mark Higgins, Armstrong's publicist, did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.</p>
<p><em>This post was updated at 6:45 p.m. ET to include additional details from the police report.</em></p>
</div>
</div>
</div><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lance-armstrong-allegedly-hit-two-parked-vehicles-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cristiano-ronaldo-real-madrid-surprise-football-2015-1">Cristiano Ronaldo, wearing a wig and glasses, surprised a young fan on the streets of Madrid</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-airasia-probe-vets-possible-computer-glitch-crew-response-2015-1A Dual Computer Failure And Poor Pilot Response May Have Brought Down AirAsia Jethttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-airasia-probe-vets-possible-computer-glitch-crew-response-2015-1
Tue, 27 Jan 2015 09:50:00 -0500Siva Govindasamy and Tim Hepher
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54b29b5969beddf33336bd28-768-511/afp-divers-find-black-box-of-crashed-airasia-jet-indonesia-ministry-1.jpg" border="0" alt="afp divers find black box of crashed airasia jet indonesia ministry">SINGAPORE/PARIS (Reuters) - Investigators probing the crash of an AirAsia jetliner are examining maintenance records of a key part of its automated control systems, and how the pilots may have handled the plane if it failed, two people familiar with the matter said.</span></p>
<p>An outage of the twin Flight Augmentation Computers (FAC) could not have directly caused the Dec. 28 crash, experts say, but without them the pilots would have had to rely on manual flying skills that are often stretched during a sudden airborne emergency.</p>
<p>"There appears to be some issue with the FAC," a person familiar with the investigation said, adding that more information was being sought from the manufacturer and airline.</p>
<p>Indonesia has said the Airbus A320 jet climbed abruptly from its cruising height and then stalled, or lost lift, before plunging out of control into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board.</p>
<p>A second person familiar with the probe said investigators were looking at how the pilots dealt with the chain of events leading up to the crash. Neither person agreed to be identified, because details of the investigation remain confidential.</p>
<p>The pair of computers comprising the A320's FAC system is mainly responsible for controlling rudder movements and helping to keep the airplane stable, as well detecting windshear, or sudden changes in wind speed or direction.</p>
<p>Indonesian magazine Tempo reported a series of maintenance problems with the computerized rudder system of that particular aircraft in the days and months before the loss of Flight QZ8501.</p>
<p>Pictures of wreckage retrieved from the Java Sea provide little evidence that the crash was caused by problems with the rudder.</p>
<p>But, after partially analyzing data from the "black box" voice and flight data recorders, investigators have extended their interest to the FAC computers, the two people familiar with the probe said.</p>
<p>A problem with the system may help explain another key element of the crash - why the jet did not automatically correct itself before entering into a stall, even if accidentally encouraged to do so by crew.</p>
<p>MANUAL CONTROL</p>
<p>Airbus jets are designed to provide "flight envelope protection", making it virtually impossible to push them outside safe design limits when operating in normal flying mode.</p>
<p>But when the computers are unable to perform their tasks, control is automatically handed to the pilots who must fall back on training and fly manually, in so-called "alternate" mode.</p>
<p>A failure of both FAC computers - one primary, the other back-up - is one of those rare circumstances that can cause the usual stall protection to trip.</p>
<p>That alone would not explain why such a jet might crash and it is unlikely to be the only scenario being considered by investigators.</p>
<p>It was not clear when any fault might have developed, but it would, if confirmed, be one possible explanation of how the plane got into the state where the Indonesian pilot and French first officer would need to take over and display skill under stress.</p>
<p>"Stall protection can trip in very exceptional circumstances and the pilots need to react to that," an A320 pilot said, asking not to be named since he is not allowed to talk to media.</p>
<p>Airbus said it would not comment on the investigation or the crashed jet, but stressed that this type of aircraft is designed to be flown manually even when the safety buffer is not available.</p>
<p>"The aircraft remains fully controllable if you lose the two FACs," an Airbus spokesman said by email.</p>
<p>"The consequence of losing the two FACs is that the pilot has to fly manually like a conventional aircraft, which by definition has no flight envelope protection."</p>
<p>PRELIMINARY REPORT DUE</p>
<p>Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) declined to comment. The agency will submit its preliminary report to the International Civil Aviation Organization later this week, but said on Tuesday it would not include an analysis of the data from the black boxes.</p>
<p>AirAsia, referring to the jet by its 5-letter registration, said it could not comment on the aircraft or the investigation.</p>
<p>"We are unable to comment on technical matters related to PK-AXC at this time as we would like to avoid adding to speculation while the investigation by the NTSC is still ongoing," an AirAsia spokeswoman said by email.</p>
<p>In October, airlines were given four years to upgrade FACs on A320 jets at the next repair after a design review. An emergency European safety directive in December instructed crew how to disable computerized flight protections themselves but only in extremely rare circumstances.</p>
<p>There is no indication Airbus or regulators have identified anything that would raise wider concerns about the safety of the 6,100 A320-family aircraft in operation.</p>
<p>Under aviation rules, Airbus must notify operators worldwide if it discovers anything that could affect the safety of the whole fleet and it has not so far done so.</p>
<p>But investigators will want to examine what caused the plane to slip out of its usual safely cocooned flying mode, how it entered a stall and what actions the crew took in response.</p>
<p>Some pilot unions, including those at Air France after an A330 jet crashed in the Atlantic in 2009, have argued in the past that Airbus systems are so complex that pilots can be overwhelmed when things go wrong. The jetmaker denies this.</p>
<p>(Editing by Alex Richardson)</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-airasia-crash-report-wont-include-black-box-data-investigator-2015-1" >AirAsia's Crash Report Won't Include Data From The Plane's Black Box</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-airasia-probe-vets-possible-computer-glitch-crew-response-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-hunt-for-victims-in-crashed-airasia-jets-main-body-2015-1Divers Have The Grim Task Of Finding Bodies Of AirAsia Victimshttp://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-hunt-for-victims-in-crashed-airasia-jets-main-body-2015-1
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 15:22:00 -0500Aryo Wicaksono
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54b76a2b5afbd3ea788b4567-800/afp-divers-hunt-for-victims-in-crashed-airasia-jets-main-body.jpg" border="0" alt="The fuselage of the ‪AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea in late December 2014 is shown January 14, 2015 in this image by the Republic of Singapore Navy"></p><p>Pangkalan Bun (Indonesia) (AFP) - Indonesian divers on Thursday headed to the main body of an AirAsia jet that crashed last month, hoping to recover more victims from the disaster, a day after it was finally located by a navy ship.</p>
<p>Flight QZ8501 went down on December 28 in stormy weather during a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.</p>
<p>After a lengthy search often hampered bad weather, a Singapore military vessel spotted the fuselage -- the plane's main body, believed to be the resting place of most of the victims -- at the bottom of the Java Sea on Wednesday.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Underwater photos taken by high-tech search equipment showed the fuselage and part of AirAsia's motto, "Now Everyone Can Fly", painted on the plane's exterior.</p>
<p>An advance team of 15 divers plunged into the water early Thursday to examine the main portion of the jet, S.B. Supriyadi, a rescue agency official coordinating the search, told AFP.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"They will first assess how many bodies are still trapped inside the fuselage," he said, adding that about 100 more divers would join the effort after the initial assessment.</p>
<p>"Hopefully we can retrieve all the victims as soon as possible."</p>
<p>Just 50 bodies have so far been recovered.</p>
<p>National search and rescue chief Bambang Soelistyo previously said that if divers had problems retrieving bodies from the wreckage while it is still on the seabed, officials would try to lift it.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The fuselage is attached to part of a wing, and the wreckage is 26 metres (85 feet) long.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Rescuers have already used giant balloons to lift the plane's tail out of the water, after it was found about two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the main body.&nbsp;</p>
<p>- Huge international hunt -</p>
<p>MV Swift Rescue, the Singaporean ship that located the fuselage, was part of a huge international hunt that also included US and Chinese ships.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It was the latest boost to the search effort following the retrieval this week of the jet's black boxes -- the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder -- which contain crucial information&nbsp;that should help determine why the plane went down.</p>
<p>The boxes -- which are actually orange in colour -- have been flown to Jakarta, where Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee is leading a probe into the accident, helped by experts from countries including France and the United States.</p>
<p>The country's meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash but only the black boxes will be able to provide definitive answers.</p>
<p>The flight data recorder holds a wealth of information about every major part of the plane, with details such as the jet's speed and the direction it was heading in, while the cockpit voice recorder stores radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit.</p>
<p>Committee head Tatang Kurniadi said that 174 hours of data had been downloaded from the flight data recorder, and two hours and four minutes from the cockpit voice recorder. The data must be converted into a usable format before the lengthy analysis process can begin.</p>
<p>Before take-off, the plane's pilot had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a major storm but the request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route.</p>
<p>In his last communication, the experienced pilot said he wanted to change course to avoid the storm. Then all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after take-off.</p>
<p>All but seven of those on board the flight were Indonesian. The foreign nationals were from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-battle-against-nature-in-hunt-for-airasia-debris-2015-1" >Searching AirAsia Wreckage Has Been Very Tough For Divers</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-hunt-for-victims-in-crashed-airasia-jets-main-body-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-battle-against-nature-in-hunt-for-airasia-debris-2015-1Searching AirAsia Wreckage Has Been Very Tough For Divershttp://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-battle-against-nature-in-hunt-for-airasia-debris-2015-1
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 11:32:00 -0500Olivia Rondonuwu
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54b7a26f5afbd378198b4567-800/afp-divers-battle-against-nature-in-hunt-for-airasia-debris.jpg" border="0" alt="This picture taken in the Java sea on January 10, 2015 shows Indonesian Navy divers heading to the location where the team found the tail of AirAsia flight QZ8501"></p><p></p>
<p>Pangkalan Bun (Indonesia) (AFP) - Clinging desperately to underwater ropes, an Indonesian search leader said his divers appeared to be "flying like Superman" as they scoured the seabed in the gruelling quest to recover bodies and wreckage from crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501.</p>
<p>"The current is so strong that it could rip open our masks or drag us into a whirlpool," said Totok Subagio, in charge of a group that this week found the plane's two black box flight recorders, after a lengthy, difficult search.</p>
<p>Trained to swim to depths of 45 metres (150 feet), the Indonesian navy's finest frogmen were drafted in to scour the seabed for wreckage of the Airbus 320-200 that went down in a storm last month en route to Singapore.</p>
<p>But in the Karimata Strait between Indonesia's Sumatra island and Borneo island, they have had to contend with rough seas, powerful underwater currents, and weather that changes from bright and sunny one moment to cloudy and rainy the next.</p>
<p>Grainy images from specialist Singaporean search equipment Wednesday showed the plane body resting on the seabed, with part of the Malaysia-based airline's slogan "Now Everyone Can Fly" painted on the red-and-white exterior clearly visible.</p>
<p>Divers now face the grim task of examining the main body of the aircraft in the hope of finding more of the 162 victims who were on board the plane, believed trapped inside the fuselage. Almost three weeks into the search, just 50 bodies have so far been retrieved.</p>
<p>- 'Two-metre-high wave is a blessing' -&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ferdy Hendarto, head of the navy's local underwater rescue division, described how divers would descend along ropes attached to buoys on the sea's surface marking the locations of the plane's wreckage.</p>
<p>The currents are so strong they can be dragged sideways and at times appear to be "flying like Superman", he said.</p>
<p>The search has been tough even for veteran divers, with some suffering nosebleeds after spending too long at depths of 30 metres.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Conditions on the surface have also been rough, with some vomiting on their way out to hunt for the wreckage as their tiny boats were hit by waves four metres high.</p>
<p>"In that search area, a two-metre-high wave is a blessing," Subagio said.</p>
<p>Most days divers have had only a four-hour window in the early morning when they can search, before clouds obscure the sun and reduce visibility underwater, rendering search efforts impossible.</p>
<p>In the hunt for the plane's two black boxes, divers equipped with devices able to detect the "ping" signals emitted by the devices would inch along the seabed, dropping weighted markers in areas where they picked up the signals.</p>
<p>Digging at the sandy sea floor where the boxes were believed buried, diver Rajab Suwarno succeeded in locating both the recorders, which contain a wealth of data crucial for determining what caused the crash.</p>
<p>One of the boxes -- which are actually orange in colour and designed to survive underwater -- was trapped under the remains of the aircraft, making it more difficult to retrieve.&nbsp;</p>
<p>He described finding one of the boxes: "That morning the sunlight was penetrating the water, it was very clear. We moved some small debris aside and dug in the white sand -- and, thank God, we found it."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-find-black-box-of-crashed-airasia-jet-indonesia-ministry-2015-1" >Divers Have Found The Black Box Of The Crashed AirAsia Jet</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-divers-battle-against-nature-in-hunt-for-airasia-debris-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/massive-crash-after-a-semi-truck-carrying-fireworks-exploded-2015-1At Least 1 Dead After Semi-Truck Carrying Hazardous Material Explodes Amid Massive Car Pileuphttp://www.businessinsider.com/massive-crash-after-a-semi-truck-carrying-fireworks-exploded-2015-1
Fri, 09 Jan 2015 13:02:00 -0500Christina Sterbenz and Natasha Bertrand
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54b025b369bedde1020a8ce8-600-/galesburg-pileup-5.jpg" border="0" alt="Galesburg pileup" width="600"></p><p>At least one person has died after two massive car pileups on I-94 near Galesburg, Michigan, <span>State Police Lt. Rick Pazder told <a href="http://woodtv.com/2015/01/09/i-94-closed-in-both-directions-near-galesburg/">Wood TV</a><span> in Grand Rapids. </span></span></p>
<p>The weather-related pileup happened at around 10 a.m. ET. The weather at the time of the crash included heavy snow with visibility of ¼ mile, according to the <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/01/09/michigan-freeway-crash/21498891/">Detroit News</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/09/us-usa-weather-michigan-accident-idUSKBN0KI1TF20150109">Reuters</a> puts the number of vehicles involved between 50 and 60, while various local media put the amount at <a href="http://fox17online.com/2015/01/09/area-near-i-94-pile-up-evacuated-hazmat-crews-on-scene/">90</a> or <a href="http://woodtv.com/2015/01/09/i-94-closed-in-both-directions-near-galesburg/">115</a>.</p>
<p><span>At least 16 people were taken to hospitals following the accident, according to the </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Kzoo_Gazette/status/553617139954118656">Kalamazoo Gazette</a><span>. One person is in serious condition. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As the pileup ensued, at least six cars and semi-trailers caught fire, according </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/09/us-usa-weather-michigan-accident-idUSKBN0KI1TF20150109">Reuters</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. One of the trucks was reportedly</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> carrying "hazardous material,"</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> while another hauling 40 pounds of fireworks exploded, according to</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Fox 17. </span></p>
<p><span><span><span>Emergency and hazmat crew are on the scene, and </span><span>I-94 in both directions is currently closed. People within a 1-mile radius are being asked to evacuate, according to Wood TV. Authorities, believing most of the haradous material burned off, lifted the 3-mile evacatuation radius. </span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>The map below shows the general area of the crash.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54b024bbecad047c1b141ee6-647-365/screenshot%202015-01-09%2013.33.28.png" border="0" alt="galesburg pileup"><br></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>Here are some photos of the scene:</span></span></span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Between mile marker 90 and 92 on I-94 <a href="http://t.co/TjFtvSkYAN">pic.twitter.com/TjFtvSkYAN</a></p>
— chris sage (@phojochris) <a href="https://twitter.com/phojochris/status/553589603169755137">January 9, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<p> </p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Semi with fireworks exploding on I 94 east of Galesburg Michigan. Unbelievable <a href="http://t.co/hfRFg67md0">pic.twitter.com/hfRFg67md0</a></p>
— Tim Marquardt (@UTM16) <a href="https://twitter.com/UTM16/status/553596634178023426">January 9, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>ALERT: WB I-94 is closed at M-37 (Columbia Ave) Exit 92 due to fatal 90 car pile-up <a href="https://twitter.com/MDOT_Southwest">@MDOT_Southwest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wwmtnews">@wwmtnews</a> <a href="http://t.co/B7ovlOI8VB">pic.twitter.com/B7ovlOI8VB</a></p>
— Kate Tillotson (@KateWWMT) <a href="https://twitter.com/KateWWMT/status/553584030927822848">January 9, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Residents who live near I-94 pile-up near Galesburg being evacuated; Hazmat crews on scene: <a href="http://t.co/h41drsjyNm">http://t.co/h41drsjyNm</a> <a href="http://t.co/pq6uoOm7Kj">pic.twitter.com/pq6uoOm7Kj</a></p>
— FOX 17 (@FOX17) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOX17/status/553611376577347584">January 9, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>DEVELOPING: At least 1 dead in massive pileup along I-94 near Kalamazoo. <a href="http://t.co/f63ePVllr8">http://t.co/f63ePVllr8</a> <a href="http://t.co/NPg4leBTZH">pic.twitter.com/NPg4leBTZH</a></p>
— FOX 2 News | WJBK (@FOX2News) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOX2News/status/553582892475899905">January 9, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Some pictures from the 94 crash. Highway is shut down from MM 85-92. Multiple fatalities. Semi truck is on fire. <a href="http://t.co/tj5hPPX2hd">pic.twitter.com/tj5hPPX2hd</a></p>
— Jessica Wheeler (@jessicawheeler3) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessicawheeler3/status/553571379862585345">January 9, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<p>jis reportedly showing part of the aftermath near mile-maker 92 on I-94:</p>
<p><iframe width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EYgxQ5tIVXo"></iframe></p>
<p class="p1">This Instagram video, reportedly from I-94 in Michigan, shows driving conditions in the area this afternoon:</p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8 ; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/xpJBe4Plk5/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">#walkinginawinterwonderland #winterweatheradvisory #whiteknuckledriving #winter #2015 #friday #themittenstate #travelblogger #travel #michigan #itscoldoutside #icyroads #i94</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd ; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A video posted by Rocky Munoz (@rockym778) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-01-09T18:13:02+00:00">Jan 9, 2015 at 10:13am PST</time></p>
</div></blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"> <strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"><em>This story is developing ...</em></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/massive-crash-after-a-semi-truck-carrying-fireworks-exploded-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/yale-crash-confidence-index-dec-2014-2015-1More And More Investors Are Convinced A Stock-Market Crash Is Cominghttp://www.businessinsider.com/yale-crash-confidence-index-dec-2014-2015-1
Tue, 06 Jan 2015 14:02:00 -0500Andy Kiersz
<p>Investor confidence that the US will avoid a stock-market crash in the next six months has dropped dramatically since last spring.</p>
<p>The Yale School of Management <a href="http://som.yale.edu/faculty-research/our-centers-initiatives/international-center-finance/data/stock-market-confidence-indices/stock-market-confidence-indices">publishes a monthly Crash Confidence Index</a>. The index shows the proportion of investors who believe we will avoid a stock-market crash in the next six months.</p>
<p>Yale points out that "<span>crash confidence reached its all-time low, both for individual and institutional investors, in early 2009, just months after the Lehman crisis, reflecting the turmoil in the credit markets and the strong depression fears generated by that event, and is plausibly related to the very low stock market valuations then."</span></p>
<p>After the darkest days of the financial crisis, investors became more confident that we wouldn't have a crash. But since May 2014, <a href="http://som.yale.edu/faculty-research/our-centers-initiatives/international-center-finance/data/stock-market-confidence-indices/us-crash-confidence-index">the index has been falling again</a>. As of last May, about 41% of institutional investors and 39% of individual investors were confident there would be no crash in the next six months.</p>
<p><span>By December, that confidence collapsed: Less than a quarter of institutional investors and less than a third of individual investors believed that stocks wouldn't crash.</span></p>
<p><span>Investors are starting to worry that a crash could be coming, and Yale's chart of the index shows the decline in confidence in the second half of 2014.</span></p>
<p><span>On the bright side, this may be a contrarian indicator. Its record low of 2009 coincided with the beginning of the current bull market.<br></span></p>
<p><span>If you're having trouble interpreting the chart, think of it this way: a low reading means fear of a crash is high, and a high reading means fear of a crash is low.<br></span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54ac15976bb3f7cb5e826098-1200-900/cotd%20crash%20confidence%20index.png" alt="cotd crash confidence index" border="0"><br></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-cost-averaging-art-cashin-2014-12" >Here's The Brilliant Trading Advice 50-Year NYSE Veteran Art Cashin Has For Investors</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yale-crash-confidence-index-dec-2014-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-recovery-teams-narrow-airasia-search-2015-1The Search For AirAsia Flight 8501 Wreckage Is Focused On A Small Areahttp://www.businessinsider.com/afp-recovery-teams-narrow-airasia-search-2015-1
Fri, 02 Jan 2015 11:36:00 -0500Adek Berry
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54a6cb0669bedd445a8b4567-879-659/qz8501-search-area-2.png" border="0" alt="QZ8501 Search Area"></p><p>Pangkalan Bun (Indonesia) (AFP) - Indonesian recovery teams narrowed the search area for AirAsia Flight 8501 Friday, hopeful they were closing in on the plane's crash site, with a total of 30 bodies and more debris recovered from the sea.</p>
<p>French and Singaporean investigators joined the hunt for the Airbus A320-200, which disappeared from radar during a storm Sunday en route from Indonesia's second city of Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The search teams have deployed side-scan sonar equipment to survey the seabed and pinger locators to fine-tune their search for the plane's black boxes, crucial to determining the why the plane crash into the Java Sea off Borneo.</p>
<p>Rough weather has in recent days hampered the search for the plane's fuselage, which is believed to be in relatively shallow water of around 25-32 metres (82-105 feet).</p>
<p>Search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said Friday's operation was focused on an area of 1,575 square nautical miles -- a tenth of the size of Thursday's search -- with 29 ships and 17 aircraft engaged in the operation.</p>
<p>"There are two main tasks in this priority sector: first, to locate the biggest part of the plane's body," he told a press conference.</p>
<p>"The second task is to find the position of the black boxes, or flight recorders, which will be carried out by the KNKT (National Transportation Safety Committee) which start working today."</p>
<p>"Divers are already on standby at the navy ship Banda Aceh to dive on that priority area to locate the body of the plane," he said, voicing hope for a "significant result".</p>
<p>KNKT chief Tatang Kurniadi told AFP that 40 divers, including 20 deep sea experts, arrived Friday from Russia to help, along with two planes, one amphibious.</p>
<p>EXTREME WEATHER</p>
<p>The search is now focused on an area of 45 by 35 nautical miles centred about 75 nautical miles southwest of Pangkalan Bun, a town in Central Kalimantan on Borneo.</p>
<p>With the search area narrowing, Indonesian official S.B. Supriyadi said they were pressing on despite rough conditions, with high winds and 3-4 metre (10-13 foot) waves.</p>
<p>"The search is still proceeding in systematic way, despite the extreme weather," he told a press conference.</p>
<p>He said ships equipped with sonar may search through the night, but high waves were hampering the use of equipment to find the black boxes.</p>
<p>Two South Korean Orion surveillance planes Friday spotted six bodies, Indonesian air force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said in a press release.</p>
<p>"After sweeping the area for more than two hours, at 11:58 the (Orions) found three bodies sitting in one row," he said, and another three just minutes later.</p>
<p>They informed warships by radio and fired flares to indicate the location for retrieval, he said.<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>MORE VICTIMS IDENTIFIED</p>
<p>Relatives were preparing to hold funerals after three more victims were identified, including flight attendant Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi, who had recently posted an Instagram picture with the message "I love you from 38,000 ft" for her boyfriend.</p>
<p>"I'm arriving in Surabaya to take Nisa (Fauzi) home to Palembang. I cannot describe how I feel. There are no words," AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes tweeted.</p>
<p>Also named was Grayson Herbert Linaksita, 11, who was travelling with his parents and 12-year-old sister for a holiday.</p>
<p>His great-uncle Bagyono Linaksita, 73, told AFP was dreading breaking the news to the children's grandmother, who was on holiday in the Czech Republic.</p>
<p>"She doted on her two grandchildren and would send and fetch them from school every day," he said.</p>
<p>"We have not told her the news that the whole family had died in a plane crash. Grayson was her favourite grandchild. She will certainly faint."</p>
<p>A crisis centre for identifying the victims has been set up at a police hospital in Surabaya with facilities to store 150 bodies.</p>
<p>Before take-off, the pilot of Flight 8501 had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a storm. But his request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia's air traffic control.</p>
<p>In his last communication, Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former air force pilot, said he wanted to change course to avoid the menacing storm system. Then all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after the plane had taken off.</p>
<p>Of the 162 passengers and crew on board, 155 were Indonesian, with three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman -- co-pilot Remi Plesel.</p>
<p>The plane was operated by AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Malaysia-based AirAsia, which&nbsp;previously had a solid safety record.</p>
<p>The crash came at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysian air travel.</p>
<p>After the disappearance of Flight MH370 in March, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew, another Malaysia Airlines flight -- MH17 -- was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 on board.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/it-would-be-expensive-and-unnecessary-to-track-all-airliners-in-flight-2015-1" >It Would Be Expensive And Unnecessary To Track All Airliners In Flight</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-recovery-teams-narrow-airasia-search-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-airasia-crash-was-most-likely-caused-by-an-aircraft-stall-2015-1The AirAsia Crash Was Most Likely Caused By An Aircraft Stallhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-airasia-crash-was-most-likely-caused-by-an-aircraft-stall-2015-1
Fri, 02 Jan 2015 10:21:38 -0500Paul Colgan
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54a10802eab8eaa33fed842f-1200-800/rtr4jgvj.jpg" border="0" alt="AirAsia search"></p><p>The official investigation into the loss of AirAsia flight QZ8501, as is typical in these cases, is likely to take months.</p>
<p>The black boxes haven’t yet been recovered and the wreckage of the Airbus A320, which was en route from Indonesia to Singapore, is still being inspected on the sea bed off Borneo. But there are some strong pieces of evidence which, so far, consistently point to the plane stalling, triggering a steep descent which led to the plane crashing into the sea, killing all 162 people on board.</p>
<p>First, there’s this radar map,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GerryS/status/549163093368913920">tweeted soon after the crash by aviation commentator Gerry Soejatman</a>, showing the plane flying at 353 knots, at flight level 363, or 36,300ft. (I’ve circled the data for the AirAsia Airbus.)</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54a6b5a66da811885b8b4569-800-449/initial_radar_qz8501.jpg" border="0" alt="initial_radar_QZ8501"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Soon after the crash on December 28th,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.airlineratings.com/news/414/indonesia-air-asia-plane-missing-">the aviation community was immediately talking about the airspeed of 353 knots</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">. While this might sound fast, it turns out it’s actually very slow for that altitude, where the air is thinner. (In the middle of that radar grab above you can also see UAE409 – Emirates flight 409 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur – flying at 36,000ft but at a more comfortable speed of 503 knots.)</span></p>
<p>As a plane flies higher, it needs to fly faster and faster because the wing can’t generate lift as efficiently as it can with the denser airflow at lower altitudes. Below a certain speed and at a certain angle, the wing stops generating enough lift to keep the plane flying. With the wings no longer doing their job, the plane suddenly becomes a train carriage in the sky, and starts falling.</p>
<p>Dealing with a stall is something all pilots learn in training. But in commercial airliners, stalls are extremely hard to recover from, and bad weather makes it even more difficult. Veteran aviation analyst David Learmount, in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11318189/Too-many-pilots-cant-handle-an-emergency.html">an article about the AirAsia crash for the UK Telegraph</a>, has expressed concern that pilots are relying too heavily on the technology in modern airliners and aren’t sufficiently able to recover control in emergencies.</p>
<p>But assuming the data in the radar grab is accurate – there’s no reason yet to doubt it – we have the following facts:</p>
<ul>
<li>The plane was flying at 32,000ft, and asked for clearance to climb to 38,000ft to avoid heavy weather;</li>
<li>It was caught on radar&nbsp;<em>four thousand feet&nbsp;</em>above that its 32,000-foot approved altitude, and flying much slower than it should have been travelling, and</li>
<li>Clearance was eventually given to climb to 36,000 feet, minutes after the request, but air traffic controllers didn’t hear from the crew again.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are also&nbsp;<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/airasia-flights-behaviour-on-the-edge-of-logic-20150101-12gk9a.html">reports today that AirAsia flight 8501 entered a baffling sudden climb</a>&nbsp;of up to 9000 ft per minute – around three times faster than what a pilot in control of the Airbus A320 would be able to achieve in normal conditions. (Experts have cast doubt on the plane’s ability to physically climb at this rate, regardless of whether it was under control.) Reuters also&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/31/us-indonesia-airplane-investigation-idUSKBN0K90QI20141231">reports</a>&nbsp;investigators talking about an “unbelievably” steep climb shortly before the crash.</p>
<p>When you put it together it looks like the plane&nbsp;<em>was climbing quickly, and flying too slowly</em>&nbsp;to maintain lift. It’s the perfect recipe for a stall.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/GerryS/status/550518322815451137">Soejatman also posted this leaked data</a>&nbsp;from the investigation team, which purports to show flight data with the plane falling at a terrifying 11,000ft per minute and moving forward at only 65 knots.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54a6b55eecad044f4a8b4567-903-538/airasia_descent_rate.jpg" border="0" alt="airasia_descent_Rate"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">This again is consistent with the plane suddenly losing power and falling straight down – exactly what would be expected after a stall.</span></p>
<p>Learmount&nbsp;<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11318189/Too-many-pilots-cant-handle-an-emergency.html">notes there are similarities</a>&nbsp;– at least on the facts currently available – between this accident and other previous tragedies where pilots lost control of their aircraft in bad weather. He notes that the 2009 Air France flight 447 disaster, in which 228 people died, involved the pilots getting confused about their airspeed while manoeuvring to avoid a storm, leading to a stall. In that case, it was found that icing in the instrumentation led to false airspeed data being relayed to the pilots.</p>
<p>The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, assuming they are found, should quickly confirm if something similar happened on QZ8501. Critically, it will show how the pilots responded and whether weather and the brutal physics of the simple aircraft wing were indeed the central players in the disaster or if the aviation community needs to look again at how pilots are trained to respond in emergencies.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/some-airasia-passengers-found-belted-into-seats-2015-1" >Some Victims Of The AirAsia Crash Were Found Belted Into Their Seats</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-airasia-crash-was-most-likely-caused-by-an-aircraft-stall-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-cost-averaging-art-cashin-2014-12Here's The Brilliant Trading Advice 50-Year NYSE Veteran Art Cashin Has For Investorshttp://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-cost-averaging-art-cashin-2014-12
Tue, 30 Dec 2014 13:50:00 -0500Andy Kiersz
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54a2f38d69beddac0c0e8375-1200-924/art-cashin-5.png" alt="Art Cashin" border="0"></p><p>UBS's Art Cashin rang the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell on December 30 to mark <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/art-cashin-50th-anniversary-2014-12">his 50th year trading on Wall Street</a>.</p>
<p>So, what kind of wisdom does this veteran have for us after all that he's seen?</p>
<p>He shared a time-tested strategy in an interview on CNBC:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"...one of the key things that people can do, particularly if they're starting their investment plan, <strong>there's something called dollar-cost investing, in which you set aside a certain amount of money, $200, $500, and you buy it every specified day. Every month, or every six months</strong>. And that way, if stock prices are down, you wind up with more shares, and if stock prices are too high, you don't buy as much. So, dollar-cost averaging works out pretty well, and yes, the stock market continues to be a good investment."</p>
<p>Cashin said this even as the S&amp;P 500 was trading within points of an all-time high.</p>
<p>The brilliant thing about dollar-cost averaging is that it works very well even if the market is at a top.</p>
<p>We ran the numbers to see how an investor would've done had she started a dollar cost-averaging strategy right before the last market crash.</p>
<h2>There's A Correct Way To Buy Stocks If You're Convinced The Market Will Crash</h2>
<p>The stock market is great for investors who have the benefit of long-term investing horizons. It's also better-suited for investors who aren't concerned about perfectly-timing market tops and bottoms.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Having said that, taking a longer term view is good for investors worried that they may be buying at the top of the market.</p>
<p>A classic strategy called <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dollarcostaveraging.asp">dollar-cost averaging</a> can help reduce risks surrounding an asset falling in price. As described by Cashin, the concept is straightforward — you invest a fixed amount of money in an asset once every fixed time period. If the asset's price drops, you will be getting more shares of the asset for the same amount of money, and so if and when the price recovers, you will have spent less per share, on average, than if you had bought the shares at their peak, pre-fall price.</p>
<p>Dollar-cost averaging isn't about losing money as the stock market falls. It's about buying increasing amounts of shares at cheaper prices, which means bigger returns during the rally.</p>
<h2>How Dollar-Cost Averaging Worked Brilliantly During The Last Crash</h2>
<p>To see this in action, we came up with a simplified thought experiment.</p>
<p>We considered what would have happened to an investor jumping into the stock market at the last peak: October 2007. This was arguably the worst time to buy. Our hypothetical investor puts $50 into a S&amp;P 500 index fund at the start of every month, starting in October 2007 — the last stock market peak before the beginning of the great recession.</p>
<p>Here is what happened to the S&amp;P 500 starting at that peak:</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54a2d48a6da811d5678b456c-1200-924/s&amp;p 500 dollar cost averaging dec 2014.png" alt="S&amp;P 500 dollar cost averaging dec 2014" border="0"></p>
<p>The index dropped more or less steadily until the worst moments of the financial crisis in fall 2008, causing the full on crash, and only began to turn around in March 2009.</p>
<p>The key to our investor's experiment is that they are staying consistent. No matter how stock prices move, they will always put $50 on the first trading day of every month into the index fund.</p>
<p>Based on changes in the value of the S&amp;P 500 index, we calculated our investor's price return, less the $50 monthly cost:</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54a2d4b8ecad04f32ece4466-1200-858/dollar cost averaging price return dec 2014.png" alt="dollar cost averaging price return dec 2014" border="0"></p>
<p>The value of our investor's portfolio as of December 1, 2014 is $6,896.30. If they instead had taken their $50 each month and held it as cash, they would have just $4,350. So, the price return on this investment — even though they started at the last peak, just before the market started to go downhill — is $2,546.30.</p>
<p>This is a respectable 58.5% return. That averages out to about a 6.6% annual rate of return.</p>
<p>To get another perspective on this, here is the percent gain or loss, compared to taking $50 each month and holding it as cash:</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54a2d653ecad049034ce4469-1200-924/dollar cost averaging percent gain and loss dec 2014.png" alt="dollar cost averaging percent gain and loss dec 2014" border="0"></p>
<p>Things start out looking pretty dire, as the economy fell into its deep recession through mid-2009, with the S&amp;P 500 reaching a minimum in March of that year. At the lowest point for our investor, at the start of February 2009, she would be down about 36%.</p>
<p>Because human beings are often overly risk-averse, our hypothetical investor might have been tempted to abandon their investment plans during the bad months. That is, they might look at this chart and panic about the drop:</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54a2d79b6bb3f73840f64603-1200-924/dollar-cost-averaging-freakout-dec-2014.png" alt="dollar cost averaging freakout dec 2014" border="0"></p>
<p>But, if our investor sticks with their plan and keeps putting $50 in every month, even through the dark times, once the market bounces back, they end up doing quite well:</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54a2d7e76bb3f7aa40f64607-1200-924/dollar-cost-average-yay-dec-2014.png" alt="dollar cost average yay dec 2014" border="0"></p>
<h2>Here's Why You Never Hear About This</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, dollar-cost averaging isn't sexy. It's much sexier to sell at the top and buy at the bottom.</p>
<p>Obviously, your returns would be much higher if you win the stock market lottery by perfectly timing the tops and bottoms of the market. However, almost everyone who tries to do this will find themselves losing money and lots of it.</p>
<p>If you are investing for the long haul, and can hang on through watching your portfolio's value drop temporarily in bad times, starting to invest in stocks, even near a peak, may not be as terrifying as it looks. The market has always bounced back sooner or later, so if you can hold on until that later, don't panic.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-rule-of-72-works-2014-12" >Here's Why The 'Rule Of 72' Is Such A Great Math Hack</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-cost-averaging-art-cashin-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-crash-flying-into-a-thunderstorm-is-the-biggest-no-no-in-commercial-aviation-2014-12AirAsia Crash: Flying Into A Thunderstorm Is The Biggest No-No In Commercial Aviationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-crash-flying-into-a-thunderstorm-is-the-biggest-no-no-in-commercial-aviation-2014-12
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:19:00 -0500Patrick Smith
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54a1d287eab8ead20242bb18-1200-748/460880152.jpg" border="0" alt="AirAsia Clouds"></p><p>First thing's first, we need to trundle out the boring but critical post-crash disclaimer: It is a bad idea to speculate too broadly on the how-and-why so soon after an air disaster.</p>
<p>Almost always the initial hunches and theories end up totally off-base or at best incomplete. We live in an age when people want and expect instant answers, but that just isn’t possible with plane crashes.</p>
<p>It often takes months or even years before a cause is nailed down. In some cases we never learn for sure what happened.</p>
<p>That said, a seeming red flag in Sunday’s AirAsia disappearance is the weather. Could the Airbus A320, flying from the busy Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, have wandered inadvertently into a violent thunderstorm and suffered some kind of catastrophic malfunction or structural failure? It’s possible.</p>
<p>I’ll point out that flying into thunderstorms is about the biggest no-no in all of commercial aviation. The crew had asked for a weather-related altitude change shortly before the disappearance, a request that was denied by air traffic control — presumably because of traffic constraints. This isn’t terribly unusual; pilots ask for altitude changes and route deviations all the time, and not always are they granted. However, that does not mean the AirAsia crew had no choice but to plow headlong into a storm. Worst-case, the crew always reserves the right to do what it needs to do, with or without permission. I cannot imagine the pilots willingly flew into what, on the radar screen, would have been a bright red splotch of potentially dangerous airspace. Perhaps a patch of weather that the pilots presumed would be manageable turned out to be otherwise? We don’t know.</p>
<p>Some are drawing comparisons between this incident and the 2009 Air France tragedy. They occurred under somewhat similar circumstances, and the media is eager to link these recent incidents together and wring some scary significance out of them. Some commentators have noted, for instance, that both planes were built by Airbus. I understand the temptation here, but this is extremely premature, and it’s unlikely that the aircraft model played a significant role. Remember that basically half of all the commercial jetliners in the sky are Airbus models.</p>
<p>An even bigger red herring is the fact that the pilots made no distress call. Several news outlets have brought this up. Effectively it means nothing. Communicating with air traffic control is pretty far down the task hierarchy when dealing with an emergency. The pilots’ priority is to&nbsp;<em>control the airplane</em>&nbsp;and deal with whatever malfunction or urgency is at hand. Talking to ATC comes later, if it’s practical.</p>
<p>So, the year appears to be closing on a tragic note. That’s a shame, seeing that 2013 was the safest year in the history of modern commercial aviation. Not to sound flip, but we can’t expect every year to be the safest, and it’s important to look at the broader context. This year will be something of a correction, but over the past ten or fifteen years the rate of fatal accidents, per miles flown, has been steadily&nbsp;<em>falling</em>. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reports that for every million flights, the chance of a crash is one-sixth what it was in 1980, even with more than double the number of planes in the air.</p>
<p>Whenever people bring up the less-than-stellar accident record for 2014, I remind them of how bad things used to be. In 1985, 27 — twenty seven! — serious aviation accidents killed almost 2,500 people. That included the JAL crash outside Tokyo with 520 fatalities; the Arrow Air disaster in Newfoundland that killed 240 American servicemen, and the Air-India bombing over the North Atlantic with 329 dead. Two of history’s ten worst disasters happened within two months of each other!&nbsp;<em>That’s</em>&nbsp;a bad year.</p>
<p>Headquartered in Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia, AirAsia is the largest low-fares airline in Asia, and one of the biggest in the world. It operates about 70 aircraft, all of them A320s, on routes around Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and beyond. (AirAsia X is the airline’s long-haul affiliate, and operates the larger A330.) I flew AirAsia between Bangkok and Phuket a few years ago. For what it’s worth, except for a delay on the outbound leg, its operation struck me as no more or less professional than that of any other major airline.</p>
<p>Asia, by the way, is now the world’s biggest and busiest air travel market, having surpassed both North America and Europe.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-ceo-tony-fernandes-turned-a-29-cent-investment-into-a-billion-dollar-empire-2014-12" >AirAsia's CEO Turned A 29-Cent Investment Into A Billion-Dollar Empire</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-crash-flying-into-a-thunderstorm-is-the-biggest-no-no-in-commercial-aviation-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-ceo-tony-fernandes-turned-a-29-cent-investment-into-a-billion-dollar-empire-2014-12AirAsia's CEO Turned A 29-Cent Investment Into A Billion-Dollar Empirehttp://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-ceo-tony-fernandes-turned-a-29-cent-investment-into-a-billion-dollar-empire-2014-12
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 11:19:00 -0500Benjamin Zhang
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54a09643eab8eabc68ed842f-894-670/tony-fernandes-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Tony Fernandes"></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airaisa-flight-to-singapore-disappears-with-155-on-board-2014-12">The disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501</a>, which was carrying 162 people, could be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/if-the-missing-airasia-plane-crashed-2014-was-one-of-the-deadliest-years-in-aviation-in-almost-a-decade-2014-12">the third major tragedy of the year for Malaysia's airline industry</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Despite this alarming fact, AirAsia actually has a reputation for safety and quality, which it has achieved during years of stellar growth.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Indeed, before the latest crisis,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-29/airasia-shares-drop-in-pre-market-trading-after-flight-vanishes.html">24 out of 28 industry analysts recommended buying AirAsia stock</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, according to Bloomberg.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">While the stock fell as much as 13% when trading resumed after the disappearance, backlash against the airline may have been diminished by reports that storms may have been a major factor in any crash.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The budget airline has been named the world's best low-cost airline for six years in a row, according to the aviation ratings agency Skytrax.&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The a</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">irline's long-haul subsidiary AirAsiaX also finished second on the list this year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">That achievement is even more impressive given that the&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">airline was on the brink of failure little more than a decade ago.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The man at the heart of the airline's spectacular rise is its charismatic CEO, Tony Fernandes.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Before AirAsia became a multibillion-dollar aviation juggernaut, it was a small, struggling airline owned by the Malaysian government.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It consisted of nothing more than two aging Boeing 737 jets, 250 employees, and one route, not to mention $40 million of debt.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Together with several partners, Fernandes took control of AirAsia from the Malaysian government in December 2001. He paid 29 cents and assumed the airline's massive liabilities.</p>
<p>Fernandes, then a 37-year-old music executive, had no aviation experience to speak of, but he did understand entrepreneurship and the leisure and entertainment market in Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>Born in Malaysia and educated at the London School of Economics, Fernandes began his career at Richard Branson's Virgin Communications in the mid-1980s. He rose to the position of financial controller before moving to Warner Music International's London operation in 1989. Fernandes was chosen to lead Warner's operation in Malaysia as its managing director before being put in charge of its whole Southeast Asia division.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="center"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/53f39c36eab8ea6377a7abbb-1200-924/airasia-ceo-tony-fernandes.jpg" border="0" alt="AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes "></span></p>
<p class="center"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Taking a cue from Southwest Airlines, Fernandes built his airline on cheap fares, quality service, and quick turnarounds for its planes.</span></p>
<p>The airline quickly <a href="http://www.airasia.com/my/en/about-us/ir-annual-reports.page" target="_blank">reached profitability</a>&nbsp;and remained in the black.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia — together with its subsidiaries in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and the Philippines — now operates a fleet of more than 160 Airbus A320 and A330 series jets transporting more than 230 million passengers per year.</p>
<p>The airline had fewer than 300 employees in 2001. It now has more than 15,000.</p>
<p>Fernandes didn't stop with AirAsia. The airline is just one piece of his sprawling Tune Group, which includes a line of trendy, no-frills hotels in Asia and the UK, along with investments in professional basketball and the Caterham Formula One racing team.&nbsp;</p>
<p>“What does the market want? Nine times out of 10, when you go for what the market wants, it's something that's different," <a href="http://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-management/strategy/ceo-view-tony-fernandes-of-airasia-2108" target="_blank">Fernandes told INSEAD Business School's Knowledge publication</a>&nbsp;in 2007. "But we weren’t the first to invent low-cost travel, we weren’t the first to invent a low-cost hotel."</p>
<p>"We’ve taken it to another level, but we've been a bit Japanese in taking it, and adapting it, and making it better for our part of the world," Fernandes added.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img class="center" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54a0f63569beddcc70adace8-1200-924/tune-hotel-kuala-lumpur.jpeg" border="0" alt="Tune Hotel Kuala Lumpur">AirAsia may have adapted an existing business model, but it has also revolutionized the way people travel in Southeast Asia. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In a marketplace traditionally dominated by regional powers like Singapore, Thai, and Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia's rise to prominence has left the aviation establishment scrambling to compete in the short-haul business. &nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">While all three national airlines have remained highly rated for their service, their financial stability has been shaken by an influx of low-cost upstarts, led by AirAsia. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Singapore has taken a proactive approach by launching budget subsidiaries: SilkAir and Scoot.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Malaysia Airlines may be AirAsia's biggest victim. Even before the tragic disappearance of MH370 and shooting down of MH17 this year, Malaysia Airlines had been struggling. The airline's regional business has been decimated, and its more traditional business structure hasn't been able to cope with AirAsia's lean, mean strategy.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With the disappearance of AirAsia flight 8501, the airline and its charismatic leader will face their greatest challenge to date. The probable tragic loss of the flight may be a turning point in the airline's story. But given Fernandes' track record, AirAsia should be up to the task.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-airlines-in-the-world-2014-6" >The 20 Best Airlines In The World</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-ceo-tony-fernandes-turned-a-29-cent-investment-into-a-billion-dollar-empire-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-flight-might-have-crashed-near-belitung-island-2014-12An AirAsia Plane Is Missing And Thought To Have Crashed Near An Island In Indonesiahttp://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-flight-might-have-crashed-near-belitung-island-2014-12
Sun, 28 Dec 2014 06:40:00 -0500Pamela Engel
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/549fe60e6da811b67cabdace-480-/airasia-plane.jpg" border="0" alt="AirAsia plane" width="480"></p><p>An AirAsia plane that went missing during a flight to Singapore is thought to have crashed near the Indonesian island of Belitung, an official from Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/28/airasia-plane-downed-belitung-waters-reports.html">told local news outlets</a>.</p>
<p>A search and rescue team has been dispatched to the area.</p>
<p>CCTV News <a href="https://twitter.com/cctvnews/status/549071902149320705">reports</a> that wreckage might have been spotted near Belitung Island, but there has been no official confirmation of that yet.</p>
<p>An official from the Indonesian navy <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-asia-30615089">told BBC</a> that no wreckage has been found yet.</p>
<p>AirAsia flight QZ 8501, which was flying from from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airaisa-flight-to-singapore-disappears-with-155-on-board-2014-12#ixzz3NBszn9dX">lost contact with air traffic control</a> at about 6:17 a.m. on Sunday about halfway through the flight.</p>
<p>Shortly before the plane lost contact with air traffic control, the plane crew asked to deviate from the planned flight path because of bad weather, the Malaysian-based AirAsia <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/airasia/updated-statement-qz8501/10152667884908742">said in a statement</a>.</p>
<p>155 Indonesians are on board the plane, along with three people from South Korea, and one from Singapore, Britain, Malaysia, and France. Of those passengers, 16 are children and one is an infant.</p>
<p>Here's where Belitung Island is located:</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/549fed97ecad04ae197bba3c-954-559/airasia%20crash%20map.png" border="0" alt="AirAsia crash map"></p>
<p>The island lies directly ahead of where the plane was when it lost contact with air traffic control:</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/549fea7beab8ea941fed8431-943-1016/airasia%20map.png" border="0" alt="AirAsia plane map"></p>
<p>The missing plane is an Airbus A320-200, a popular and generally reliable model. The plane is about six years old.</p>
<p>Two pilots were on board the plane. The captain had clocked a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer had 2,275, according to AirAsia.</p>
<p>Singapore's air force and navy is helping with the search and rescue operation to locate the plane.</p>
<p>The AirAsia plane disappearance comes after two other major aviation disasters this year. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 disappeared in March and was never found. In July, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17 was shot down while it was flying over Ukraine.</p>
<h3>
<br><strong>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/taiwan-navy-stealth-missile-warship-corvette-2014-12">The Taiwan Navy Just Unveiled A Stealth Missile Warship Dubbed The 'Carrier-Killer'</a></strong>
</h3>
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<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/airasia-flight-might-have-crashed-near-belitung-island-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-greek-stocks-crash-2014-12This Chart Shows How Crazy Today's Greek Stock Market Crash Ishttp://www.businessinsider.com/chart-greek-stocks-crash-2014-12
Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:42:00 -0500Elena Holodny
<p>Greece is getting crushed.</p>
<p>Stocks were down by as much as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snap-election-fears-are-tanking-the-greek-stock-market-2014-12">11.2%</a> on Tuesday — the worst plunge since 1987.</p>
<p>Reuters reporter Jamie McGeever <a href="https://twitter.com/ReutersJamie/status/542321293597888512">tweeted a chart</a> showing the magnitude of this plunge relative to other drops.</p>
<p>It's not good; that's for sure. Check it out:</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5487077beab8ea0f1e9000d3-946-518/screen%20shot%202014-12-09%20at%209.28.57%20am.png" border="0" alt="greece stocks crash"></p>
<p>So what's going on in Greece?</p>
<p>This crash <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snap-election-fears-are-tanking-the-greek-stock-market-2014-12">follows the news</a> that Greece's presidential elections are being brought forward to Dec. 17.</p>
<p>If the government does not get the supermajority needed to install a president, there could be a general election. Right now, the radical Coalition of the Left is leading in the polls.</p>
<p>And investors appear to be getting <em>really</em> nervous about that.</p>
<h3><strong><br>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/real-maps-ridiculous-correlations-2014-11">6 Compelling Correlations That Make Absolutely No Sense</a></strong></h3>
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<h3><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/real-maps-ridiculous-correlations-2014-11"></a></strong></h3><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-markets-dec-9-2014-2014-12" >Markets Everywhere Are Tanking</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-greek-stocks-crash-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/shanghai-stocks-just-went-through-the-floor-with-a-major-sell-off-2014-12Shanghai Stocks Plungedhttp://www.businessinsider.com/shanghai-stocks-just-went-through-the-floor-with-a-major-sell-off-2014-12
Tue, 09 Dec 2014 03:01:00 -0500Mike Bird
<p>Chinese stocks just saw a colossal sell-off late in trading, sending the Shanghai Composite index from a small increase to a 5.43% crash, the biggest in five years.</p>
<p>Here's how it looked:</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5486ac44dd08954f628b45b3-1200-924/shanghai%20stocks.png" alt="Shanghai stocks" border="0"></p>
<p>That has not done much to dent the meteoric rise of Shanghai's stock market, which is still up by 39.47% since January. But such rapid slumps will most likely be raising a few eyebrows.</p>
<p>Only Monday, Shanghai stocks were being <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/terrible-trade-numbers-just-sent-shanghai-stocks-through-the-roof-again-2014-12">sent through the roof by some abysmal trade numbers</a>. The stock exchange is setting record trading volumes, and it's extremely choppy.</p>
<p>Analysts have noticed that Shanghai's boom is consistent with the same story we've seen before in China: as valuations climb, retail investors pile in and prices surge even further. <span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/shanghai-composite-falling-2014-12#ixzz3LP4wqhdH">China’s retail investors have an unfortunate track record of jumping in at the top of the market</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">," according to Bloomberg's Tom Orlik, while Bespoke Investment group note that the explosion in Shanghai equities has coincided almost exactly with a big jump in the number of Chinese brokerage accounts being opened.</span></p>
<p>So it's no surprise that <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/china-is-telling-investors-to-fear-the-market-as-shanghai-stocks-explode-2014-12">Chinese regulators are already warning investors about the sharp rally</a>.</p>
<p>Below is a look at the meteoric rise of the Shanghai Composite in 2014.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/548702b3eab8ea0c0b9000d4-628-473/screen%20shot%202014-12-09%20at%209.08.32%20am.png" alt="china stocks" width="868" border="0" height="653"></p>
<h3><strong><br>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/real-maps-ridiculous-correlations-2014-11">6 Compelling Correlations That Make Absolutely No Sense</a></strong></h3>
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<h3> </h3><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/shanghai-stocks-just-went-through-the-floor-with-a-major-sell-off-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rare-and-abandoned-airplanes-photos-2014-11A Photographer Quit His Job To Document The Aftermath Of Isolated Plane Crashes Around The Globehttp://www.businessinsider.com/rare-and-abandoned-airplanes-photos-2014-11
Fri, 28 Nov 2014 11:42:00 -0500Christian Storm
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5474b3676da811ed265b5689-1200-800/happy end 1 4.jpg" border="0" alt="happy end 1 4"></p><p>In 2010, photographer <a href="http://www.dietmareckell.com/">Dietmar Eckell</a> was the general manager<span>&nbsp;for Southeast Asia at a German Fortune 500 company, working and living comfortably. But, since his childhood, Eckell says he's felt the strong pull of "wanderlust," so that year he resigned his post and began traveling the world, documenting abandoned and decaying relics of earlier times.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Since then, he's traveled almost 75,000 miles and visited four continents. "I</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;haven't regretted it for one day," Eckell tells Business Insider.</span></p>
<p><span><span>For one of his main projects, Eckell researched and photographed 15 downed planes around the globe. The series is titled "Happy End," because not a single passenger died in any of the crashes. "Pictures of fatal airplane crashes are all over the news. There's no need for me to document graves," Eckell told <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2013/07/17/dietmar_eckell_documents_plane_crashes_in_his_series_happy_end_photos.html">Slate</a>. "I want to surprise the viewer with stories of heroes and miracles and give their viewing experience a 'happy end.'"</span></span></p>
<p>Acting as part detective, part explorer, and part artist, Eckell traveled by any means necessary to some of the most remote areas of the world, tracking down these abandoned planes, many of which were difficult to locate.</p>
<p>"It's just a great feeling to finally sit on the wing of a plane that you've been trying to reach for years," he says.</p>
<p>Eckell has shared some of his photos here with us. For the full story on many of the planes he visited, we suggest you buy his beautiful <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/happy-end-a-photobook-about-miracles-in-aviation">new book</a>.&nbsp;</p><h3>Douglas C-47, part of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Crashed near Snag, Yukon, Canada, in 1950. All 6 survived.</h3>
<p><p>Eckell had no exact location for the C-47 when he arrived in Snag, Canada. After speaking with the locals, he secured a flight with a friendly pilot who flew him over the wreckage. Later, Eckell attempted to reach the plane on the ground, but that proved treacherous as the land around the wreck was very swampy. Traveling by ATV, "we had to pull each&nbsp;other out with the trench every five minutes and maybe made one mile per hour," he says. Finally, he arrived at the wreck and documented what was left before the whole thing eventually sinks into the bog.<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5474b3676bb3f7e2098b456f-1200-800/happy end 2 1 2000.jpg" border="0" alt="happy end 2 1 2000" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;" /></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Grumman HU-16 Albatross. Suspected drug-running plane. Crashed near Puerto Escondido, Mexico, in 2004. All survived.</h3>
<p><p>Eckell had heard rumors of a "mysterious drug plane" on a remote beach in Mexico, so when found a cheap flight to Ixtapa, he jumped on the opportunity. Upon landing, he rented a car and traveled 45o miles to Puerto Escondido. The locals told him that after the crash, the survivors carried as much cocaine as they could from the wreckage, but were subsequently eaten by crocodiles in the lagoons nearby. Eckell isn't sure if he believes this.</p>
<p>Today, the airplane is almost gone. Eckell told <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2013/07/17/dietmar_eckell_documents_plane_crashes_in_his_series_happy_end_photos.html">Slate</a>, "<span>I document these structures before nature takes them back. Maybe it's a way to make their stories immortal."</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5474b3676bb3f73b0e8b4568-1200-800/happy end 3 2 mexico 2004.jpg" border="0" alt="happy end 3 2 mexico 2004" /></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Avro Shackleton. Crashed in Polisario-controlled area of the Western Sahara in 1994. 19 survived.</h3>
<p><p>Eckell found this wreck in the "no-man's land" between Morocco and Mauritania. After days of travel, including 26 hours of non-stop driving and 20 hours on Mauritania's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/train-to-mauritanias-remote-mining-town-2014-7">famous iron ore train</a>, he finally arrived at the Avro Shackleton in a remote desert setting. He stood on the roof of his car and held his tripod above his head to get the shot, before making the treacherous drive home.&nbsp;<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5474b3686bb3f76a0a8b4569-1200-800/happy end 43 western sahara 1994.jpg" border="0" alt="happy end 43 western sahara 1994" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;" /></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rare-and-abandoned-airplanes-photos-2014-11#curtiss-c-46-commando-crashed-near-churchill-manitoba-canada-in-1979-all-three-survived-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/lawyer-on-tracy-morgans-condition-2014-11Tracy Morgan's Lawyer Says The Comedian May Never Be The Samehttp://www.businessinsider.com/lawyer-on-tracy-morgans-condition-2014-11
Thu, 27 Nov 2014 14:24:00 -0500Devan Joseph and Associated Press
<p><span>Tracy Morgan's lawyer&nbsp;</span><span>gives an update on his condition after suffering a severe brain injury in a highway crash last June.</span>&nbsp;Tracy suffered the injury after a <a href="http://www.walmart.com/">Wal-Mart </a>truck slammed into a limo van that was carrying Morgan and several other friends on their way back from a show in Delaware in June.<br><br><em>Produced by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/devan-joseph" title="Devan Joseph">Devan Joseph</a></em><span><em>. Video courtesy of Associated Press.</em><br><br><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video" title="On Facebook">On Facebook</a></span><span><br></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lawyer-on-tracy-morgans-condition-2014-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-loon-balloons-keep-falling-out-of-the-sky-2014-11Yet Another Of Google's Space Balloons Has Fallen Out Of The Sky (GOOG)http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-loon-balloons-keep-falling-out-of-the-sky-2014-11
Thu, 20 Nov 2014 11:26:00 -0500Joshua Barrie
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/546e1645dd0895f45f8b45d5-1170-878/loon-balloon-2.png" alt="Loon Balloon" border="0"></p><p>Google's 4G "Loon" Balloons, launched to bring internet connectivity to people in remote pockets of the world, keep falling out of the sky.&nbsp;</p>
<p>South African newspaper Beeld <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=af&amp;tl=en&amp;js=y&amp;prev=_t&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.netwerk24.com%2Fnuus%2F2014-11-20-geheime-ballon-in-karoo-gevind&amp;edit-text=&amp;act=url">reported on Thursday</a> that a farmer called Urbanus Botha stumbled on one of the balloons while out on his property. Apparently, unaware of the project, he first thought it'd come from a local weather station.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But his daughter, 20, examined the materials and sent photos to her brothers, who spotted a "Google X" mark. <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=af&amp;tl=en&amp;js=y&amp;prev=_t&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.netwerk24.com%2Fnuus%2F2014-11-20-geheime-ballon-in-karoo-gevind&amp;edit-text=&amp;act=url">She told the paper</a> she sent images to&nbsp;an engineer in California, who said the components looked like they were Google's and would send someone to collect them.</p>
<p>The work of Google's secretive X Lab, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-launches-internet-balloons-2013-6">Project Loon began in 2013</a> as a network of balloons travelling on the edge of space, designed to "fill the gaps", the company <a href="http://www.google.com/loon/">explains,</a> in a world where two-thirds of the population remain offline.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The balloons float in the stratosphere and connect people to the internet using special antenna people can attach to their building — a bit like a vamped up version of satellite TV.</p>
<p>It's a novel, even noble idea, but unfortunately, last week's discovery isn't the first time one of the inflated 4G air bags has crash landed.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/546e1645dd0895f45f8b45d4-849-463/screen shot 2014-11-20 at 15.22.31.png" alt="Loon Balloon" border="0"></p>
<p>In June this year one became tangled in a power line in Washington, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/project-loon-balloon-crash-2014-6">Business Insider noted here</a> — which allegedly caused a power outage in the area.</p>
<p>And in 2013 a Loon Balloon was mistaken for a crashing plane in New Zealand, the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/20/landing-google-loon-causes-concern-in-new-zealand/">Wall Street Journal says,</a> and the emergency services were called.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Google deployed 30 balloons when it started piloting the project early last year. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-1-billion-plan-to-use-satellites-for-worldwide-internet-2014-6">company has plans to spend more than $1 billion</a> on the 180 of the satellites, "beaming internet from the sky".</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/googles-loon-balloons-keep-falling-out-of-the-sky-2014-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>